Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) - Medical Animation
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Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) - Medical Animation
MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: The heart has four muscular pumping chambers-- the right atrium, the left atrium, the right ventricle, and the left ventricle. The left ventricle pumps blood out through a large artery called the aorta to supply the body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. In left-sided heart failure, the left ventricle is not able to pump enough blood to the body. The two types of left-handed heart failure are diastolic, where the left ventricle can't relax enough to fill with blood, and more commonly, systolic, where the left ventricle can't contract strongly enough to push blood to the body. In severe or end-stage heart failure, the heart is getting weaker and doesn't respond to medication. For left-sided end-stage systolic heart failure, a doctor may recommend an implantable left ventricular assist device, or LVAD, to help the heart pump enough blood to the body. An LVAD is a small mechanical pump implanted inside the chest or abdomen that takes over the job of the week left ventricle. Blood flows from the left ventricle through an inflow tube to the pump. The pump pushes the blood through an outflow tube into the aorta. From here, the blood travels normally from the aorta to the rest of the body. A cable called a drive line connects the LVAD pump inside the chest to a control unit located on the outside of the body. The control unit is a small computer that controls the functions of the pump and alerts the patient if there are any problems. The pump and control unit receive power through a cord connected to a battery pack. Finally, the control unit and battery pack are held in a lightweight patient pack. An LVAD may be a temporary treatment until a heart transplant could be performed. Or if the patient isn't unable to have a heart transplant, an LVAD may be used for destination therapy, which is long term treatment.
"Thank you very much for the great work on the medical exhibits. Our trial
resulted in a $16 million verdict for a 9 year old boy with catastrophic
injuries, and the medical illustrations definitely played key role in the
trial."
David Cutt
Brayton Purcell
Salt Lake City, UT
"I wanted to thank you for the terrific job you did illustrating my client's
injuries. The case was settled at the pre-suit mediation, and I believe a
good part of the success we had was due to the medical legal art you
prepared.
Your work received the ultimate compliment at the conclusion of the mediation. The hospital risk manager took the exhibit with them at the
conclusion of mediation, and will be using it to train nurses on how to
prevent bed sores..."
Steven G. Koeppel Troy, Yeslow & Koeppel, P.A. Fort Myers, FL
"I wanted to take some time out to let you know what a wonderful job you did
with the 'collapsed lung/fractured rib' illustrations. They were both
detailed and accurate. My medical expert was comfortable working with them
and he spent at least an hour explaining to the jury the anatomy of the
lungs, the ribs and the injuries depicted in the illustrations. Needless to
say, the jury was riveted to the doctor during his testimony.
The jury returned a verdict for $800,000.00 and I'm sure we would not have
done so well if not for the visualizations we were able to put forth with
your assistance. Lastly, my special thanks to Alice [Senior Medical
Illustrator] who stayed late on Friday night and patiently dealt with my
last minute revisions."
Daniel J. Costello
Proner & Proner
New York, NY
"This past year, your company prepared three medical illustrations for our cases; two in which we received six figure awards; one in which we received a substantial seven figure award. I believe in large part, the amounts obtained were due to the vivid illustrations of my clients' injuries and the impact on the finder of fact."
Donald W. Marcari
Marcari Russotto & Spencer, P.C.
Chesapeake, VA
Medical Legal Art creates medical demonstrative evidence (medical
illustrations, drawings, pictures, graphics, charts, medical animations,
anatomical models, and interactive presentations) for use during legal
proceedings, including research, demand letters, client conferences,
depositions, arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, mock jury
trials and for use in the courtroom. We do not provide legal or medical
advice. If you have legal questions, you should find a lawyer with whom you
can discuss your case issues. If you have medical questions, you should seek the advice of a healthcare provider.
